#oregonzoo

#oregonzoo

Tiny Dwarf Mongoose Hikes a Toy Egg Like a FootballA dwarf mongoose exhibits a unique behavior while playing with toy eggs at the Oregon Zoo. This species is  native in Angola and in the wild, it is  known to act in this peculiar way  to crack open eggs  by launching it in the air through its legs with its  forepaws, just like a football center player would do when snapping the football back from the line of scrimmage. As you can see in the video clip provided by the Oregon Zoo, while snapping the plastic egg back, the dwarf mongoose is facing away from a rock. If the egg that it throws back were real, it would crack on impact.  In this case, the activity not only provide a good “eggcercise” for the mongoose, it also help provide it with a simulation of what to do to feed in the wild.#mongoose #DwarfMongoose #football #egg #OregonZoo

Elephants vs. Giant PumpkinsHave you ever wondered what happens to giant pumpkins that are grown for competition? While some win prizes, others just lay on their sides, and they won't fit into a stew pot. Besides, they don't make good pies. In Portland, they make good use of them. Recently, Larry Nelson and Jacob Baldridge of the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers Club took a load of giant pumpkins to the Oregon Zoo for the annual ritual called the Squishing of the Squash. Every year since 1999, the zoo welcomes the shipment of fall gourds for the elephants, who have their way with the pumpkins. "First, they destroy them, then they enjoy them," elephant keeper Dimas Dominguez said.